Frank Lampard will return to the bedside of his seriously ill mother after admitting he has been through the hardest time of his life.

An improvement in mum Pat's condition gave Lampard the incentive to leave her Essex hospital and play in Chelsea's Champions League semi-final against Liverpool at Anfield.

Lampard and other members of his family have been keeping a bedside vigil ever since Pat was admitted with pneumonia just over a week ago.

The midfielder helped Chelsea to secure a 1-1 first-leg draw courtesy of an injury-time own goal from Liverpool substitute John Arne Riise.

Avram Grant's side were trailing to a 42nd-minute opener from Dirk Kuyt and had rarely looked capable of equalising until Riise's last-minute blunder gave Chelsea a slight advantage going into the return leg at Stamford Bridge next week.

But Lampard will return to his mum's bedside - hoping that her condition continues to improve enough for him to play against Manchester United on Saturday.

The England international admitted that the outlook had been "very bleak" at one stage last week and that her recent improvement was the only reason he felt able to play against the Merseysiders.

"This time last week was very bleak," revealed Lampard. "I won't go into details but we were getting a very bleak outlook. That was the hardest moment for me in my life.

"I am very lucky because I have a very tough mum, who is a very good person, and I think that might be what is helping her at the minute.

"Three days ago I wasn't playing in my mind. But we got some decent news on Saturday afternoon and my head came round a little bit then. I made a decision to go in training on Sunday to see how I felt.

"The manager and the club have been fantastic and have not put any pressure on me whatsoever. I just felt I could come and play and in a way the training and the playing has helped to take my mind off things, whereas last week I was in a bad situation."

Lampard admitted the traumas of the previous week had left him barely prepared for last night's crucial clash.

"I trained yesterday and I will be honest I wasn't in the greatest of shape. I have been in better shape for games both mentally and physically but it has been a very difficult week," he said.

"Things have brightened up a little bit in the last few days but without that happening back home I wouldn't have been playing.

"It has been a positive few days from what was a very desperate situation last week.

"I know what why mum is like. My mum and dad follow me up and down the country and hopefully, all being well, my mum will come round and I know she would have had a right go at me for not playing in this game.

"That was in the back of my mind. She is stable at the minute and that gave me a bit of a clear mind to come and play but I will be back with her tomorrow.

"In terms of the game it was tough mentally but once the game started I just concentrated on the job. I am sure I will be okay for Saturday."

Lampard believed Chelsea deserved their slice of luck at the end of a tough game against Rafa Benitez's side.

"We started to become stronger and created enough chances to score that away goal," said Lampard.

"There's been a few times at Anfield when we haven't got our rewards but if you keep going and keep your system, sometimes you get your rewards.

"It is now a different situation to how it has been in other years. They have got a very talented manager and players and they have got a week to work out what they want to do at our place.

"They are certainly good enough to give it a right go but we have to make sure we are on song.

"We know our situation. We believe if we can play as we did last night at times and better on our home ground, then we've got a great chance. The fact we got that late goal probably does make it better for us."

Lampard also revealed the draw gave them a massive lift ahead of their Barclays Premier League showdown with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

"It is a big lift because we felt the game was petering out as a 1-0," he added.

"Manchester United is a completely different thing but it is a big lift. But if we beat them and then with Liverpool coming, we might be peaking at the right time."

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